His Heaven
by MyGirlCrais
Summary: Talyn's starburst in WISC throws him and Crais into a wormhole, leading to a small blue planet that looks a little familiar...
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Farscape is now the property of the fans! Woo-hoo, grab your favourite bit! *Grabs pulse pistol* Crais is mine! Braca too.  
  
Timing: Post ITLD: WISC.  
  
Spoilers: WISC, everything basically.  
  
'His Heaven' is the first prequel to 'Captain's Prerogative' and describes what happened to Crais and Talyn after they starbursted out of the command carrier in ITLD2.  
  
'His Heaven' has been entered in the 2004 Farscape Fanfiction Awards under 'Best AU', 'Best Episode Addition', 'Best Drama' and 'Best Series' (as part of the CP Universe series). If you don't like this fic, ignore this. If you do, I'd appreciate your nominations and (after January 10th) your votes. I'd give you a link, but I can't seem to make it come up when I upload. I'm sure Google will turn it up. Thank you.  
  
'His Heaven'  
  
Prologue  
  
Bialar Crais stood dead centre in Talyn's command, feeling completely in control for the first time in three cycles. Or, possibly, his entire life. He took a deep breath and uttered his famous last words.  
  
"Talyn...starburst!"  
  
The command filled with white light and Talyn shot forward with such force that Crais was thrown roughly backwards, landing in an undignified heap. His head slammed against the floor and he lost consciousness instantly.  
  
Talyn, meanwhile, had entered a state that could only be described as blind panic. Literally in fact, because all he could see were the wave-like blue walls of the wormhole he was trapped in. He tried desperately to fire his cannon, and then remembered that he couldn't anymore. Doing the leviathan equivalent of hyperventilating, Talyn struggled to navigate against the massive currents pulling him along and to rouse Crais. Failing miserably on both counts, he shut down as many of his sensors as he could and fell back on the one thing he could do in the situation. He accessed his curse- words file, drawn from the combined vocabularies of Crichton, Aeryn and anyone else who had ever come aboard (Crais had been very little help in that department) and tried out every single one. Finally, finding that Crais was right and swearing really didn't help, he decided on the one last course of action open to him. He gave up any attempt to control his fate...and screamed.  
  
The panicked leviathan and his unconscious captain shot down the wormhole like a speeding bullet. Talyn was buffeted repeatedly by the walls until he could take no more and knocked himself into sleep mode. Crais was thrown around the command deck, picking up no small amount of bruises and at least one cracked rib, but was fortunately oblivious to everything. Finally, the wormhole spat them out.  
  
Had either of them been conscious by this time, they would have noticed that the small, blue planet they were now floating next to was somewhat familiar. It was a largely insignificant planet in all other respects. No defences, very little communications traffic worth investigating, no space stations of any significant size, only a few satellites of a very primitive technology. In fact, there was only reason why it would be of any interest to them.  
  
Down on Earth, in the IASA control centre, all hell broke loose. 


	2. It's life Jim, but not as we know it

Part 1: It's life Jim, but not as we know it.  
  
"Contact SETI, contact every damn agency and field station we have. Give me confirmation!"   
  
Lt. Colonel Beth Danner (retired), even after a solid forty years' experience at IASA, was feeling pretty close to hyperventilating herself at that moment. It wasn't the first extra-terrestrial UFO sighting she'd been present at, far from it. The junior staff members were always getting themselves worked up over some blip on the radars, but this was different. This was not a blip, unless every satellite in Earth's orbit had conspired to give her a heart attack. This was something real. It had appeared out of nowhere, so it couldn't be an asteroid. It was too big to be a defunct probe. Despite all her years of practice in remaining sceptical, she was one confirmation away from dancing round the room.  
  
"Sir!"   
  
The man known universally as DK (so universally that she wouldn't even have known his real name if she hadn't read his personnel report) looked up from the screen he'd been working at, looking properly excited for the first time since his partner and best friend Commander John Crichton had apparently been swallowed by a singularity some three years before.  
  
Beth resisted the temptation to hold her breath. "Yes DK, do you have something to report?" she asked, playing the calm-commander role that she was so good at.  
  
"Confirmation," DK replied simply, a grin the size of the Grand Canyon breaking over his face.  
  
Beth's heartbeat jumped to a dangerously fast rate. "Thank you," she said, trying to keep her cool in the midst of chaos. She took a deep breath, forcing the enormity of the situation out of her mind. Something she'd never found difficult before.  
  
"Well," she added, pausing a moment, eyes sweeping over the rows of people holding their breath, "we can't afford to waste anymore time. We need to know what that thing is, we need to contact it, we need every detail we can possibly get. You know your jobs, get started."  
  
The effect of these words was strangely reminiscent of throwing a piece of meat into a tank of hungry piranhas. The IASA staff, who were almost to a man (despite years of equal-opportunity legislation they were still mostly men) as alien-happy as they come, went from 0 to 60 in a micro-second. The race had begun.  
  
Beth Danner sat down at her desk, hiding her trembling hands underneath it. Oh if this could be real! First contact...if she could have lived to see it. The day she'd dreamed of for as long as she could remember. Her ultimate fantasy.  
  
***  
  
Three hours later, optimism had given way to frustration and worry.  
  
"Nothing!" DK said, looking helplessly at the Colonel. "We tried everything. Prime numbers, the standard SETI greeting and every other thing they might possibly recognise. Nothing. No response."  
  
Jack Crichton put a hand on his shoulder. DK had snatched a second to call him the moment confirmation had been received. The super-quick message 'Jack. UFO confirmed. Come now,' had been enough to make him slam his foot onto the accelerator and risk at least $1000 in speeding fines to get there in time. But he understood better than most the many false alarms that are part of an alien-hunter's life.  
  
"Whatever it is, it hasn't attacked," he pointed out. "We have received nothing to indicate that it is hostile. And we still believe it to be a ship."  
  
DK tried for a smile. He didn't quite pull it off. "You're right. I...just hoped...."  
  
Jack Crichton nodded. He had hoped too. Hoped that, by some miracle, it was John on that ship. Home again.  
  
"So, what do we do now?" one of the juniors asked, finally voicing what everyone was thinking but hadn't dared to say. "Just wait and hope they don't attack?"  
  
DK, Col. Jack Crichton and Lt. Col. Beth Danner all exchanged glances.  
  
"It doesn't seem that we have much choice," Jack answered, grimly.  
  
***  
  
Crais winced as Talyn's command slowly swam into focus. His head felt as if Talyn had landed on it. But, then again, he did seem to still be alive which, under the circumstances, was an unexpected surprise.  
  
He struggled to prop himself up on his elbows, wincing again. He must have cracked a rib, or several. He looked around him. Talyn, at least from this angle, looked relatively unhurt, but was transparently in sleep mode. Whatever had happened to them during their starburst, they hadn't escaped without injury.  
  
Crais slowly pulled his sore body to its feet. He caught a glimpse of something out of the viewscreen and moved gingerly over to it to take a closer look. His lips parted slightly. Was that....?  
  
He'd only seen it once before, and then only as a 'billboard' from the ancients. Could he possibly have found his way to Earth?  
  
He had to wake Talyn. He had to find out what had happened after they'd starburst. But, before that, he had to go to medical.   
  
***  
  
It was five hours since the first sighting. The IASA command crew (which seemed to have expanded quite considerably as word got around) had moved past waiting in terrified silence. Death might be inevitable, but it certainly seemed to be taking its time. And it was well past lunch time and everyone was hungry. No-one had admitted to being the one who called Domino's, but somehow a truckload of pizza had arrived anyway. Now everyone was eating, drinking beer (usually banned from the centre, but Lt. Col. Danner seemed to have decided to be blind for the day) and making cheerful conversation. If they were going to go out, they were going to go out full and drunk.  
  
Jack Crichton and DK sat, sharing a large pepperoni pizza (with anchovies on Jack's half), both trying to keep their mind off the man - son and friend respectively - whom they couldn't give up hope of seeing again. The same thought was constantly running through each of their heads as they sat there in silence. Please let this be something to do with John. To be honest, neither of them really believed that it was, but hope was the one thing they had left.  
  
***  
  
A wormhole. The starburst had sent them through a wormhole. Just like the one Crichton had been through, the one Scorpius had created, the ones Crais had sacrificed himself and Talyn for, to prevent them falling into Peacekeeper or Scarran hands. Or hadn't, but that had been his expectation. So, this could really be Earth. How ironic. Crichton had been obsessed with finding his home himself, or at least preventing the Peacekeepers finding it. He'd never dreamed that Crais would. Crais had never dreamed that Crais would.  
  
Crichton's world had no contact with aliens, he was sure that Crichton had said that. Perhaps the best thing he could do would be to leave as quickly as he could. But then, he must be countless light-cycles from where he'd been before. If he merely left, he'd never get back to the uncharted territories. That would make him safe from Scorpius, but he had only limited supplies on board. And if this part of the galaxy was uninhabited....  
  
And there was something else. This odd feeling that he had a responsibility to make contact. Crichton might never return to his home. It was ridiculous for him to feel this way. He'd spent the first cycle of his acquaintance with Crichton trying to kill him and they'd never exactly become friends. Perhaps the version of him that had died and he had reached a tenuous understanding, but that was all. But still...if he just flew away....  
  
His decision made, no matter how pathetically human-like, Crais used Talyn's intelligence-gathering facilities to hack into one of the satellites orbiting the planet. A first-cycle cadet could have managed it. Crichton had been right. Not only would Earth have no chance against the Scarrans, they'd have no chance against practically any of the sentient races in the galaxy. He adjusted Talyn's long-range comms to synchronise with theirs and began his message.  
  
***  
  
"Sir!" one of the least drunk crew members exclaimed. "We're getting a transmission!"  
  
The room fell silent instantly.  
  
"Well, let's hear it!" Lt. Col. Danner replied, hurriedly putting down her slice of Hawaiian pizza and wiping a piece of mozzarella from her chin.  
  
The message was broadcast over the room's speakers. Everyone listened.  
  
"Well," DK said, when it was finished. "That was...uh...informative."  
  
"Colonel," Beth Danner asked, closing her eyes for a moment, "did that sound like any language you are familiar with?"  
  
"None," Jack Crichton replied simply.  
  
"We need a language expert up here," Beth said, sounding the epitome of calm despite her churning insides. "Meanwhile, send out the SETI greeting again. Maybe they just didn't receive it last time."  
  
"Yes sir!" half a dozen voices responded.  
  
***  
  
Crais sighed in irritation. He had sent a perfectly simple message and they had replied with this frankly bizarre transmission. Why precisely Crichton's people thought that a nude picture was the most suitable way of making contact with other races was beyond his comprehension. It did seem that humans really were exactly like Sebaceans on the exterior, but that was not what he was here to determine.  
  
Translator microbes. Of course, Humans didn't have them. He'd known that, but he'd forgotten. Obviously making contact would not simply be a matter of stating his presence. They didn't speak Sebacean, he didn't speak Human. He couldn't write Human. He could think of nothing that they might recognise. Except....  
  
"Talyn," he said, "show me the surveillance logs."  
  
***  
  
"Sir...something's happening!" an over-enthusiastic junior exclaimed.  
  
"What precisely?" Beth asked, beginning to lose patience. The so-called language experts couldn't make head or tail of the message they'd received, even after three damn hours. The occupants of the alien craft could be declaring war or trying to make a hair appointment, for all they knew.  
  
"I think...I think they're using our satellite to download something to our computer!"  
  
"It could be a computer virus," Jack Crichton said, getting up from his perch on the desk.  
  
"Or it could be a communication," Beth added.  
  
They exchanged a glance.  
  
"Your command," Jack said quietly. He'd known her too long to pull rank on this one.  
  
"We stay," Beth said, opening the command to the room at large. "Let them continue the download."  
  
Everyone in the room held their breath until the download was finished. When it was, the one in charge looked over to Beth and Jack.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Beth said. "Hit the play button."  
  
Every pair of eyes turned to the huge screen on the wall. At first there was nothing, then a picture flashed onto it.  
  
Jack Crichton and DK both went weak at the knees. Staring at them was the face of John Crichton, presumed dead. For one brief moment, hearts soared.  
  
Then they hit the ground. "If John were there he could have spoken to us direct," DK said, common sense shooting hope down. "Whatever is on that ship, it's obviously not from Earth."  
  
Jack Crichton nodded, the pain of crashed hopes constricting his chest. "But whatever it is has obviously seen John, it may be able to give us some news of him."  
  
Their attention flashed back to the screen as the image shifted. What followed was a montage of Crichton speaking. Obviously the alien had compiled clips of some sort of video footage in order to speak to them in a language they would understand. The speech was stilted, but understandable.  
  
"I am. Crais. I know. John Crichton. I'm here. In. Peace. I mean. No. Harm. I. Seek. Jack Crichton."  
  
"DK," Jack asked, when the speech had finished, "did you hear that?"  
  
"Yes sir!" DK replied, breaking out into a smile once again.  
  
They got no further before the image on the screen began changing again. They fell silent to watch. Now it was showing another montage, once of Crichton moving around a strange red and black world that almost looked...alive.  
  
They saw Crichton swipe his hand over a panel of some kind and a door opened. He strode through it.  
  
"Yo, Crais,"  
  
"That's the...." DK began, then stopped when the image shifted to their 'alien'.  
  
Two of them. A male and a female - or so they appeared. Who spoke the language they had heard on their earlier message. Who looked completely human.  
  
"Holy fuck."  
  
The fact that someone had said that didn't surprise anyone. The fact that it was Lt.Col Danner did. In the thirty years he'd known her, Jack Crichton had never heard her use that word and yet he wasn't surprised that she'd used it now.  
  
Every occupant of the room stared at the scene. It didn't make much sense because they could only understand what Crichton was saying, but the message fulfilled Crais' purpose.  
  
"That's...the alien who's on that ship," DK said, managing to finish his sentence this time. "That guy. And the other is...someone else."  
  
The image on the screen shifted again. To Crichton and the female alien. They were sitting, half-lying, together, looking out into space through a small viewing panel. Crichton had a notebook in his hands. He was showing her something on it. He spoke, but this clip had no sound. It was obvious, though, that he'd asked her a question. She smiled and they leant towards each other, their lips melting into a kiss. The scene froze there.  
  
"Well...." DK said. "I guess...that answers one question. And...er...throws up a few others."  
  
Jack stared at the screen, taking in the image of his son...and the woman he so obviously loved. The woman who just happened to be a human-looking alien.  
  
The image changed once again. Another speech montage.  
  
"I need to. Speak. With. Jack Crichton. Please. Send him. To. Me."  
  
Every eye in the room turned to Jack.  
  
"I will...inform Mission Control that we need to schedule a shuttle launch as soon as possible," Jack said, officially to Beth and DK but really to everyone.  
  
DK looked distinctly doubtful. "Knowing IASA, it'll take six months just to set up the committee to discuss it."  
  
"For this," Beth replied, managing a small smile, "I think even IASA could cut it down a little. I've made a few friends in high places, it's time to collect on all the debts I'm owed."  
  
"Sir...it could be a trap." DK couldn't in good conscience keep silent on that.  
  
Jack nodded. "For John...I will take that risk."  
  
***  
  
Crais had begun monitoring communications traffic in earnest, so he knew when to expect the launch. When the tiny shuttle was launched from the larger one and began to approach Talyn, he deployed the docking web and brought it aboard. Then, giving Talyn strict instructions not to open the inner bay doors until he arrived, he left command and headed to the docking bay.  
  
***  
  
Jack Crichton climbed out of the shuttle pod, slowly and cautiously. At least the air here was breathable. He looked around him in awe, taking in the larger transport pods already occupying the bay as well as the strange, flesh-like walls. He didn't know what on Earth, or rather off Earth, he should expect. Whether this was even genuine. But if this...creature...knew something about his son then he'd risk death and worse.  
  
The bay doors suddenly swished open...and the alien man he'd seen on the clips strode into the room. A tiny robot, that appeared to have accompanied him, moved forward towards Jack. It resembled a large, mechanical ladybug. He didn't know whether he should move away from it or not. It rolled up to him...and stuck something into his foot.  
  
"What have you given me?" he demanded, jerking back from it.  
  
"Translator microbes," the alien said, after waiting a moment. To Jack's astonishment, he could understand him. "They allow you to understand my language. They are quite harmless to humans, Crichton has had them for over three cycles."  
  
"You were telling the truth? You know my son?"  
  
Crais nodded sharply. "I am Bialar Crais. I am afraid that he is not currently aboard Talyn - this ship. My appearance here was...unexpected. I merely wish to give you what assurance I can as to his health and then depart."  
  
"He is alive?" Jack asked, holding his breath.  
  
Crais nodded again. "To the best of my knowledge. I last saw him one solar day ago."  
  
Jack closed his eyes. "Thank God," he said. "Thank God."  
  
Crais wasn't sure who God was, but it was obviously someone important to Crichton's father. He cleared his throat.  
  
"I can...provide you with some information about your son. I would have transferred it all with my earlier communications, but I did not wish to alarm you with such a large amount of information. Crichton...has mentioned that you have had no contact with other species before."  
  
Jack studied him curiously from a safe distance, noting the fire arm at Crais' hip. "What species are you?" he asked.  
  
"I am Sebacean."  
  
"You look...remarkably similar to Humans.... And...the woman on the message you sent. She is...Sebacean also."  
  
Crais nodded again. "Her name is Aeryn Sun," he said, matter-of-factly.  
  
"And she's...they're a couple?"  
  
Crais considered how to answer that. "Their...relationship has tended to be somewhat...difficult, but I have no doubt of their...mutual affection."  
  
"And what is your relationship with my son?"  
  
That was even harder to answer. "I...would not call us friends," Crais said, trying to avoid the word 'enemies'. "But I believe we have...learned to tolerate each other."  
  
"That...doesn't sound promising," Jack said, feeling rather uncomfortable.  
  
"We met under...unfortunate circumstances, which I am not prepared to discuss," Crais replied, in a tone that said firmly 'case closed'.  
  
Jack took the hint. "Where is my son?" he asked.  
  
"He is in another part of this galaxy, far from here. He resides aboard a ship called Moya, who is the mother of my ship."  
  
"Mother?" Jack asked, stupefied. "This ship is alive?!"  
  
"Talyn and Moya are both leviathans, living ships."  
  
Jack looked around him again, in even more wonder this time. "Can I see the rest of your ship?" he asked.  
  
"I will escort you to Talyn's command. You will go nowhere unsupervised."  
  
"Understood," Jack answered, not willing to risk angering him. God only knew what he might do, for all Jack knew he secreted poisonous venom or turned into a monster when agitated.   
  
He followed Crais at a swift marching pace through the ship, staring at it as he passed. The same words kept repeating over and over in his brain. This ship is alive, it's alive! He couldn't help noticing what looked like damaged conduits all over the ship.  
  
"The ship appears to have sustained damage," he ventured to say.  
  
Crais didn't even slow his pace. "We were both injured during starburst and our voyage through the wormhole."  
  
"Wormhole? Starburst?"  
  
"Starburst allows Talyn to travel vast distances almost instantaneously. Wormholes are a phenomenon, usually naturally occurring, which provide the same function. Crichton himself left this part of the galaxy through a wormhole." Crais answered, wondering irritably if the entire Crichton family was this inquisitive.  
  
They reached command, Jack having asking another dozen questions en route. The view confronting him made his mouth fall open and all speech desert him. Here he could stand and look down on Earth. It was a sight he'd seen before, but he'd never dreamed that he would stand without a space suit, on a alien ship, and look down on the planet he called home.   
  
After a moment, he asked the only question he had left for now.  
  
"Can I...would you permit me to bring others here?"  
  
Crais looked at him sharply. "It is not my intention to instruct the human race on space exploration, nor to have my ship overrun by humans."  
  
"Only family members...and DK," Jack said, willing to press this point. "It would be the experience of a lifetime and they will want to see where John has spent at least some of his time."  
  
Crais sighed. "Very well," he answered. "But I will not tolerate anyone interfering with my ship. Talyn requires extensive maintenance before we can hope to leave here. I will not allow you or your family to roam freely on this ship and I cannot escort you myself at all hours of the day."  
  
Jack nodded, pleased that he had agreed. "It will take us some time to find everyone and to return here. Give me two days."  
  
Crais nodded. "I will escort you back to the hanger bay. In the meantime, I will transmit all the information of value that I have to your command, please inform them of this."  
  
With a last look out of the viewscreen, Jack Crichton left Talyn's bridge. He might not have seen his son, but suddenly he felt as if John was one step closer to home. 


	3. Close encounters of every kind

Part 2: Close encounters of every kind  
  
At the very least, Jack Crichton had been true to his word. No scientists had been allowed on board, much to the disappointment of IASA (not to mention the US government, NASA, SETI and virtually every alien-related body on planet Earth). Between them, Crais and the DRDs had repaired much of the damage to Talyn and transmitted virtually every piece of information they had that pertained to Crichton to IASA command. It left him nothing to do but entertain his guests. A task that he was finding extremely taxing. He'd all but given up trying to supervise them all, since they all insisted on wandering off in different directions without any warning and had instead given Talyn strict instructions to monitor them closely. This did not improve his mood.  
  
The guests comprised Jack Crichton, DK, Beth Danner and two women who had been introduced to him as Crichton's sisters. That had surprised him, he'd been unaware that Crichton had any siblings. Jo and Jessica Crichton were as unlike John (and each other) as Crais could imagine. Jo was apparently involved in the study of some kind of aquatic mammal, was intensely shy and seemed completely overwhelmed by Talyn. Jessica, on the other hand, was evidently used to being in charge and seemed set to take over Talyn if he gave her half a chance. Having an instinctive dislike of people who questioned his authority and an equal lack of patience for dealing with timid ones, he was finding it difficult to warm to either of them.  
  
And neither of them seemed to enjoy being in space much. By contrast, Jack, DK and Beth were in heaven. All thoughts of rank and protocol had been abandoned and the three of them were acting like third-graders on a trip to the zoo. Everything was exciting, everything was interesting. It was like having three John Crichtons on board, only amplified. Which was another reason why he had given up chaperoning them.  
  
Wearily, Crais made his way back to command. If he could get no work done while they were here, at least he could escape their inane conversation. He could speak to Talyn instead, who would be sure to have something intelligent to say.  
  
"Will they come back with us?" was Talyn's first question.  
  
Crais closed his eyes for a second. "Talyn...we may never be able to get back to where we were before. Even with almost continuous starbursts, the distance may well take longer than my lifetime to traverse. I...cannot guarantee that you will ever see your mother again."  
  
Talyn's lights dimmed in sadness.  
  
"Even if we manage to return to our part of the galaxy, these humans do not belong there. Crichton's arrival was a mistake, they are not prepared. Nor do we belong here."  
  
Just out of sight beside the doors that Talyn had left open, Jack Crichton slowly exhaled. What was it that they were not ready for? What was the world his son inhabited like?  
  
***  
  
When Crais returned to his quarters, he was beyond irritated to find Jessica Crichton sitting at his desk.  
  
"What are you doing in my quarters?" he demanded, not in the mood for pleasantries.  
  
She shrugged, a very Crichton-like gesture. "Just looking around a bit. Talyn let me in. He seemed to think you might enjoy having me here." She tossed the info-pad she had been studying onto his desk as she stood up, not looking in the least apologetic for invading his privacy.  
  
"He was mistaken. Leave."  
  
"You know, this is a pretty interesting place," Jessica commented, leaning against the edge of his desk and crossing her arms, looking for all the world like these were her quarters and he was the one intruding. "You really live here?" she asked, her eyes glancing over the room.  
  
"I do," Crais answer, mouth tight with tension. "You, however, do not. Either leave voluntarily or I will evict you - forcibly."  
  
She stepped closer and her eyes gleamed. "That sounds like it could be fun," she murmured.  
  
Crais jerked back, caught off guard. "What?"  
  
"I said," she repeated, moving round him in a slow circle, examining him from every angle as if he were a potential purchase, "that sounds like fun."  
  
Crais turned his head to look at her just as she leaned closer. Their faces were so close that Crais could feel her warm breath on his face. Their eyes met. His lips curved into a smirk. "Oh, I assure you, I would take great pleasure in throwing you out."  
  
She gave him a smug grin. "I'm sure you would, Captain, but I doubt you could manage it."  
  
"You are not afraid of...aliens," Crais observed, half insulted that she didn't find him in the least intimidating.  
  
Jessica laughed, moving a little away from him. "Green, slimy things with big heads and no mouths - yeah. Intergalactic hotties who look like they've stepped right out of Sci Fi Magazine's sexiest men issue- no. I can't see alien in you, just...man. And that...I like."  
  
Crais made no comment, but his eyes followed her.  
  
"How long have you been on Talyn?" Jessica strolled back to the desk and slid back onto it, tilting her head in question as she looked back at him.  
  
"Two cycles," Crais stated, half wondering why he was continuing the conversation, instead of following through on his threat to throw her out.  
  
"Like two years?"  
  
"I believe so."  
  
"Alone?" He'd never met anyone else who could pack that much innuendo into a single word, not even Chiana.  
  
"For the most part. Crichton and some others from Moya resided on board for several monens," he replied, refusing to rise to the bait.  
  
Jessica arched one eyebrow, running her tongue over her lips. "You know that's not what I meant."  
  
"The answer is the same regardless."  
  
"John can keep the space exploration, I never wanted to do that. But if the life out there is all like you...I'm happy to see it come to Earth. And...invade us."  
  
Crais smiled grimly. "If you had seen what I have seen, you would not believe that. Very few species, including my own, would come to you in peace."  
  
"Make love, not war." She tossed the words casually into the air.  
  
"What?" Crais asked, despite himself.  
  
"Something they used to say in the sixties. Make love as in...sex. I always thought it was good advice. Some of our world leaders could use more of it, maybe then they wouldn't keep fighting amongst themselves."  
  
Now Crais was the one to approach her. "You still have not given me a reason for being here."  
  
"You still haven't given me a reason to leave," she shot back.  
  
"Other than ordering you out of my quarters?" Crais enquired, wondering why he was suddenly playing her game.  
  
"I like it when men try to order me about," Jessica said, smiling smugly at him. "It makes it better when I get them wrapped around my little finger." She laughed at the look of confusion that flashed briefly across Crais' face. "When I get them to take orders from me," she explained.  
  
"I will never take orders from you. This is *my* ship and you will do as I tell you," Crais snapped, giving her one of his dark, smouldering looks and unknowingly playing right into her court.  
  
Jessica locked eyes with Crais, who was now standing in front of her. "Make me," she challenged him.   
  
One of Crais' strong hands flashed out and pulled her head to his, kissing her fiercely until her heart slammed in her chest. She mirrored his action, revelling in the feel of his tongue entwined with hers, giving as good as she got.  
  
Crais broke off the kiss abruptly, his own breathing heavy, all too conscious of the needs he'd been forced to push to the side one too many times. "If...anyone of your party saw this...they would believe you were insane," he grunted, not letting go of her, his fingers tangled in her sandy hair. Jessica looked right back at him, her long fingers nimbly undoing the binding around his hair, no intention of backing either down or out. "I'm a big girl now," she whispered, barely an inch separating her lips and his. "I don't need my daddy to choose the guys I see. And if my brother can screw an alien, so can I."  
  
Crais raised an eyebrow, making no effort to move away. "Screw?" he enquired, guessing easily what she meant.   
  
"I'll illustrate it for you," Jessica replied, pulling Crais back to her, wrapping her legs around his waist as he closed the gap between their bodies. "In Technicolour."  
  
***  
  
Jack and Beth were standing on Talyn's terrace. It had been slowly developing over the last few monens, Crais being too involved with other concerns to investigate anything that didn't offer tactical advantage. Both of them were almost beyond words at the beauty of what they were seeing. Unlike Jack, Beth had never been into space before, the diabetes that she had suffered from since she was eighteen had disqualified her from astronaut training. It had been the bitterest disappointment of her life.   
  
"I never dreamed that I'd live to see this," she said softly, gazing in awe at the star-studded velvet that was outer space. "It was my life's ambition." She chuckled dryly. "I suppose I can die happy now."  
  
Jack looked at her in surprise. "You're not that old," he protested.  
  
"I'm not that young," Beth replied, shoulders heaving as she sighed. "IASA have been hinting that it's time to retire properly. Let someone younger take command. I'll have to take up lawn bowls and bingo. I can't imagine not hunting aliens anymore. But...at least I lasted long enough to see this."  
  
Jack took a slow breath, suddenly feeling his own mortality. He was older than Beth and he didn't feel anymore ready to retire than she did. He couldn't afford to get old, not when it might take years for John to make his way home.  
  
"Why did you never marry?" he asked, seemingly out of the blue. It was a question he'd wanted to ask her for most of the last twenty years.  
  
Beth smiled wistfully. "Because the only man I ever wanted to marry chose someone else."  
  
"He must have been a fool," Jack said gruffly.  
  
Beth smiled properly, deciding that she was too old for games and secrets. "You shouldn't put yourself down like that," she teased gently.  
  
It took Jack a moment to realise what she was saying. "Me?" he asked, amazed. In thirty years, he'd never had the slightest idea.  
  
Beth smiled at him affectionately. "You won't remember it, but I do. I was in college and interning at IASA for the summer. There I was, twenty years old. Feeling like a mature woman half the time and a child playing dress-up the other half. And there you were. Jack Crichton, the famous astronaut. Not to mention lady-killer, with that smile and those baby blue eyes. You smiled at me once as you were walking down the corridor and I went red as a tomato and dropped the files I was carrying all over the floor. You stopped to help me and I was so tongue-tied I could barely say thanks. I had the hugest crush on you all that summer."  
  
She looked away from him, back out at the stars. "It wasn't until we met again, almost ten years later, that I could look you in the eye without blushing. And that's when I fell in love with you. Of course, by then you'd married Frances and had John and Jessica...it was too late."  
  
Jack stood, staring at her, speechless.  
  
"Still...I don't know if it would have worked out anyway. Both of us are so space-mad...and we were so focused on our careers. Still, I wish we'd had a chance to find out."  
  
"What's wrong with now?" Jack asked finally, his voice cracking slightly with emotion.   
  
Beth turned back to him, looking uncertain. "You don't think we're a bit old for the dinner and a movie routine?"  
  
"No," Jack said, feeling ridiculously like he was about fourteen again. "No, I don't."  
  
***  
DK sat in Talyn's galley, trying to record a message for Crichton. Crais had given him what looked like a space-age video camera so he could say a few words. Crais had warned him that he could not guarantee the message would ever reach Crichton. Yet, somehow, DK knew that it would. But how could he say even a fraction of what he wanted to tell his friend on this tape?  
  
He cleared his throat and tried, for the tenth time, to find a place to begin.  
  
"Hi John, it's me, DK. I'm...sitting here, on this incredible ship, trying to think of how to tell you everything that you've missed. I don't think I can. I don't know where you are, or what you're doing, or if you're safe, or if you're happy. I don't know if you'll be home tomorrow...or never. I just wanted to let you know that we're not giving up hope. When you come home...we'll be here. Waiting to give you the hero's welcome."  
  
"I can't fill you in on everything that's happened over the past three years, but I thought you might like to know something. Remember Julie? The one you set me up with and I told you I'd never get on with? Well...we got married last year. In a few months we're having a baby. If it's a boy, we're going to call him John. And he could use his uncle here."  
  
"One more thing. I won't tell you who won the Superbowl. You'll have to come home to find out."  
  
DK stopped the tape.   
  
***  
  
The little creature prodded her foot. Jo Crichton knelt down beside the DRD and tried to think what it could be trying to tell her. Although an expert in non-verbal communication from her work with dolphins, she'd never encountered lifeforms like these. She couldn't decide if they were robots or living animals.  
  
"I don't understand you," she said shyly, as the DRD prodded her foot again. "Can you show me?"  
  
The DRD glided along the floor, making her feel as if she was playing with a remote-control car. It took off down the corridor, Jo following it uncertainly. This ship was huge and the layout was complex. She didn't want to get lost. She especially didn't want to incur the wrath of its alien captain, who intimidated her intensely. A part of her wished she had Jessica's confidence with strangers, even if it did tend to get her into trouble.  
  
When the DRD finally stopped, Jo found herself staring at what appeared to be an exposed pipe. It was leaking a white vapour into the ship. That could not be good.  
  
"Umm...what do I do?" she wondered out loud. Clutching at straws, she settled on the same method Crichton preferred. "Blink once for yes, twice for no, okay?"  
  
It blinked once.  
  
"Do you know where the...Captain...is?"  
  
One blink.  
  
"Can you tell him about this?"  
  
Two blinks.  
  
"Why not?" Jo asked, realising even as she said it that the thing couldn't answer her. "Is he...occupied?"  
  
One blink.  
  
"I don't know how to fix this," she whispered in frustration, stroking Talyn's flesh around the wound. Repair a living space ship? She couldn't even programme her VCR. "Can you...can you show me how?"  
  
Two blinks.  
  
Jo twisted a strand of her curly hair, that had escaped from her high pony-tail, around her finger, trying to think of a solution. "Can you bring me the tool I would need to mend the hole?"  
  
It blinked once and immediately set off down the corridor. Jo opened her mouth to call after it, then closed it again. Instead she leant her back against the wall, slid down it and bowed her head. There wasn't much she could do until it returned. It couldn't be too important, otherwise the creature would have disturbed the Captain - whatever he was doing. She could only wait.  
  
Sitting there in silence, she began to notice the sounds around her. Being trained to distinguish between different calls, albeit from a slightly different animal, she set to work trying to decipher the messages Talyn was sending out. More than anything, she thought he sounded lonely. Of course, she could be reading him all wrong.  
  
"Talyn?" she said out loud, feeling a little silly talking to the ceiling. "Talyn...do you miss your mother?"  
  
He made another sound. It echoed all around her. A cross between a sigh, a groan and a computer powering down. One she could decipher easily enough.  
  
"Talyn...I don't know how you got here...astrophysics was never really my best subject," she said, smiling into space, "but I'm sure that you can figure out how to get back. I have faith that this will all work out for you." She laughed, half at herself. "I guess I just believe in happy endings."  
  
Talyn made a sound she couldn't have described, but it almost seemed like he was smiling at her.  
  
Jo sat there, conscious of the fact that she was not alone and comforted by it. Eventually the DRD she had been speaking to earlier returned and, by a combination of instinct and nudges from the DRD, she managed to stop the leak. She couldn't help a small feeling of pride at her accomplishment. "Note to self," she murmured, "have another go at figuring out the VCR."  
  
The DRD prodded her foot again and Jo looked down at it. "What now? Don't tell me there's another one?"  
  
It trundled away down the corridor and she followed it, wondering what it wanted her to do now. This time it led her through a maze of corridors, until she knew she couldn't possibly find her way back on her own. She only hoped this wasn't one of the areas that the Captain had declared off-limits. She didn't fancy facing him if he was angry.  
  
They reached a door and the DRD came to a halt outside it. Jo was just wondering how they could get through when it slid open by itself. She stepped through the doorway, unconsciously holding her breath.  
  
She was in a room she hadn't been allowed into before. There was a viewscreen at the far end, showing Earth in all its glory. Closer to her were panels and consoles. "This must be command," she whispered. Now she knew she was in trouble, they'd all been strictly forbidden from coming here, except for the escorted visit Crais had allowed Jack. She was more conscious of Talyn's sounds here than anywhere else on the ship. Although he was everywhere, it was almost as if he was centred in this room.  
  
She noticed a panel above her head and reached out a hand to touch it. Talyn made a sound that might almost have been a purr. Jo smiled, continuing to stroke him like she would a cat. Except she couldn't quite reach to tickle under his chin.  
  
Her attention was suddenly caught by something she was quite sure hadn't been there before. A strange metallic claw, attached to a long cord, that looked for all the world like the poles park attendants use to pick up rubbish. She dropped to her knees to take a closer look at it, wondering what it could possibly be.  
  
The DRD that had brought her flashed its lights at her and she turned to it. It slowly turned in a half cycle until it was facing away from her. She frowned at it in confusion, not understanding what it was trying to tell her. It turned back to her, flashed its eyes again and repeated the gesture. "You want me...to turn around?" she asked finally, at a loss to explain its reasoning.  
  
The DRD blinked once.  
  
Shrugging, not sure what was happening, Jo did as it wanted. A second later, her screams echoed through Talyn's passageways. 


	4. The best of intentions

Part 3: The best of intentions.  
  
As it turned out, no one heard. Talyn's other occupants were...well...occupied.  
  
Jo sat on the floor of command, her knees pulled up to her chest, her head between them, breathing heavily. What she'd just felt had been unquestionably the most intense experience of her entire life. She wasn't entirely clear on what had just happened, but she knew what she felt. Somehow, she and Talyn were joined. She'd never dreamt of anything like this.  
  
What she knew was that she needed some help. This was completely overwhelming. Instinctively, she used her new connection to search for Jessica.  
  
She found her and nearly blacked out at the sight.   
  
"Jessica, what the hell are you doing?!" she thought.  
  
Unfortunately, she accidentally opened the internal comms. Jessica and Crais both got the shock of their lives when Jo's voice suddenly boomed out from nowhere. Crais immediately switched his transponder out of privacy mode. It took all of a microt for him to understand what had occurred and for his face to turn black with rage.  
  
"Talyn, what have you done?!" he demanded mentally.  
  
"I like her, I want her with us," Talyn pleaded.  
  
"You cannot just give transponders to anyone who comes on board! She cannot possibly come with us and we do not even know if her physiology can tolerate the cybernetic link! To take action like this without consulting me is intolerable!"  
  
"What's going on?" Jo thought, hearing the two of them arguing in her head was incredibly disorienting.  
  
"Talyn has given you a transponder, like the one I have," Crais answered, to Jo's surprise. She hadn't realised that he could hear all her thoughts. "This is how I communicate with Talyn."  
  
Jo reached up to the back of her neck and felt the implant there. She suddenly felt dizzy. Dear God, what had he done to her?  
  
Jessica, unable to stand the suspense any longer and annoyed that the man who'd been giving her his undivided attention for most of the last arn had suddenly tuned her out, grabbed Crais' arm and shook it.  
  
"What's going on?" she demanded.  
  
"Talyn has joined with your sister," Crais replied, tense with anger.  
  
Jessica blinked. "Joined? What do you mean 'joined'? Joined how?"  
  
"Through a transponder, like mine," Crais said, indicating the back of his neck.  
  
"Well, un-join her!" Jessica demanded.  
  
"I...do not know if I can," Crais answered. "Although I have some medical knowledge, it is not sufficient for delicate surgery, especially since I am not familiar with your physiology."  
  
"You obviously have very good instincts then," Jessica answered, her heart for once only half in the exchange. What on Earth were they going to do?  
  
"Your human doctors...."  
  
"Would freak if they knew about this," Jessica answered. "There's no way anyone back on Earth can find out. Somehow, we have to deal with this here - and quickly. IASA only gave us a week, max. If we're not back, I wouldn't put it past them to send another team up here to get us. Scientists, ones who would take great pleasure in ripping Talyn apart to find out what he's made of."  
  
"I suggest we go to command and discuss this situation with Jo," Crais answered, beginning to pull his uniform back on.   
  
Jessica followed suit, although reluctant to have him all covered up.  
  
***  
  
"What are we going to do?" Jessica wondered out loud. "I guess we should get Dad up here."  
  
"No," Jo said, very definitely. She'd tried that as soon as Crais had told her they were coming. And she'd thought seeing him and Jessica together was disturbing. No one ever wants to think of either of their parents recreating, let alone have to witness it.  
  
"Why?" Jessica asked, frowning.  
  
Jo shook her head weakly. "Just...don't ask. We don't need to tell them...him...yet." She went back to concentrating on her breathing, controlling the panic that threatened to envelop her.  
  
Crais was frowning. "I do not like this."  
  
"You don't like what?" Jessica asked, not liking his tone.  
  
"Pain is normal and a certain degree of disorientation as well, but I have never seen anyone react so strongly to this."  
  
"How many has this happened to?" Jessica demanded.  
  
"Two. Myself and Officer Sun - your brother's...consort."  
  
"What happens if something goes wrong?" Jessica said, now very worried.  
  
Crais sighed. "I do not know what could be done."  
  
"Fantastic, brilliant," Jessica muttered. "Do you realise what will happen if she's hurt by this? All hope of the Star Trek ideal coming to life will be over, all chance of people thinking of you as the good guys will be over. If John ever comes home, he'll probably find that he's not allowed to set foot back on Earth, even though he is human. This could ruin everything for us."  
  
"I did not intend for this to happen!" Crais snapped. "If you recall, this was Talyn's decision, not mine."  
  
"Will you guys stop talking like I'm not here," Jo said quietly, trying to concentrate through the fog in her mind. At the moment it was like she had the flu and hadn't slept in three days, her brain didn't seem to be functioning properly.  
  
"You're the Captain of this ship, you're supposed to know what's going on!"  
  
"If you recall, I was somewhat distracted," Crais growled. "By you!"  
  
"Don't you go laying this all on me. I wasn't the one who made the first move, remember?"  
  
"You made your intentions perfectly clear before that."  
  
"Shut up!" Jo screamed. Crais and Jessica both turned to her in surprise. Jo struggled to calm herself. "If all you two can do is fight, I suggest you just go back to fucking each other until you've calmed down. Obviously I interrupted you too soon! I have someone else - no, two people - living inside my head with me and I don't need this as well!"  
  
"Sorry, Jo," Jessica said, a little sheepishly.  
  
"I suggest we proceed to medical, where I can monitor you more closely," Crais added.  
  
"Fine," Jo said slowly. "Let's do that."  
  
When she tried to get up, her knees buckled. It took both Crais and Jessica to hold her up, Jo between them with one arm around each of their shoulders.  
  
"I still don't see how you can have so little control over your ship," Jessica muttered.  
  
Crais raised his eyes to the ceiling, reigning in his temper with difficulty. "For your own safety," he growled. "I strongly suggest that you cease this discussion now."  
  
"But...."  
  
"NOW!"  
  
***  
  
"When this is over, nothing will ever be the same again."  
  
Everyone there knew the truth behind DK's words. It had been five arns. They'd tried removing the transponder, only to discover that Jo could no longer survive without it. Her heart had stopped. If Crais had ever thought about it, he would have assumed that Sebaceans and Humans were similar enough that joining would cause no problems. Even now, he couldn't determine just what had gone wrong. It frustrated him, but he knew there was more to this than that.  
  
She couldn't survive with it and she couldn't survive without it. Talyn was slowly killing her, his mental signature overpowering her own. In not much longer, although he didn't know it, John Crichton would be losing a sister.  
  
What he hadn't fully understood until Jessica had explained it to him - loudly - was exactly what this first contact would do. He'd come in peace, but was about to leave death. This would never be forgotten. He would start a panic which might never subside.  
  
Crichton had been right. They weren't ready.  
  
***  
  
"We analysed all the data from when John...left...and we have a theory as to how the wormhole was opened. If you can re-create John's experiment in this ship, you might just be able to get back. To wherever you were before," DK said, giving Crais a weak smile.  
  
"Judging by the state of this part of the galaxy, I suspect it would be best to make the attempt, even if it is not successful," Crais said grimly. "Thank you...for your assistance. Talyn and I will leave as soon as you have returned to Earth."  
  
"We will do our best to explain the truth about what happened," Jack said, from the doorway. Today he felt old. No father wants to outlive his child.  
  
"I hope, for your own sakes, that you are successful."  
  
"It doesn't change the fact that you killed my sister," Jessica said, arms folded, expression angry.  
  
"It is not the first death that I have been the cause of," Crais said. "But I in no way intended it to occur. I do know what it is to lose a family member and I offer you my condolences. Talyn does also. He wishes me to impress on you that he had no idea of the consequences of his actions. Neither of us did."  
  
Talyn's lights dimmed around them.  
  
"I accept that it's not your fault," Jessica said. "But that doesn't mean that I don't still blame you."  
  
Crais almost chuckled. "That I can understand."  
  
"I hope you get back," Jessica added reluctantly. "Because I don't think you'll be very popular if you stay here."  
  
***  
  
Bialar Crais stood dead centre in Talyn's command once again, preparing to throw himself on fortune's mercy. This time, he had no idea where he would end up.  
  
He and Talyn dived, and then began to skim the Earth's atmosphere like a flat stone across a pond. Crais felt, rather than saw, the radiation levels spike and they pulled out, heading for the very centre of the disturbance. Suddenly they were surrounded by the familiar blue walls again, Crais was hurled from his feet, this time hitting his head on a console. Talyn groaned inwardly and knocked himself out straight away.  
  
Free fall once again. With no guarantee of a soft landing. 


	5. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
A certain beach, in a certain part of the USA that looked strangely like Australia. Two people, sitting on the bonnet of a certain car, staring across a certain stretch of water at a certain launch site.  
  
"Do you think they'll ever go up again?" DK asked.  
  
"Eventually," Jessica answered.  
  
"Are they still badgering you to come in for a physical?"  
  
"I'm going. Just to get them off my back. It's next week."  
  
"I don't know why they're bothering. They won't find anything, other than translator microbes like in all the rest of us."  
  
"I know, try telling them that."  
  
DK stretched his arms above his head. "Do you want to head back?"  
  
"Might as well."  
  
Jessica turned to look once more over at the launch site, before they left. No, they wouldn't find anything. Not after today, at least. No doubt they'd wonder, but they wouldn't be able to prove it.  
  
It had been harder than she'd expected. It wasn't as if she'd ever wanted children, but still...it had been hard. But there'd been no choice.  
  
The world wasn't ready for a half-alien baby. Not yet.  
  
Maybe not ever. 


End file.
